1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless networks and, more specifically, to communication protocols for time-overlapping independent unicast transmissions from a single transmitter to multiple receivers and/or from multiple transmitters to a single receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention(s). Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
A traditional wireless network typically treats the wireless channel as a point-to-point link for unicast transmissions, i.e., transmissions in which a communication packet is sent from a single transmitter to a single specified receiver. This treatment can be disadvantageous in that it tends to undervalue or dismiss altogether the benefits of multi-user wireless channels. The latter enable time-overlapping unicast transmissions from a single transmitter to multiple receivers and/or from multiple transmitters to a single receiver. The use of multi-user wireless channels can advantageously increase the transmission capacity of the network without significantly increasing the hardware cost. However, various communication protocols that can be used to realize the benefits of multi-user wireless channels are not sufficiently developed yet.